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Addressing Burnout and Building Resilience for APS Supervisors

We create experiences that transform the heart, mind and practice.

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About Us

Providing approximately 50,000 learning experiences to health and human services professionals annually, the Academy’s mission is to provide exceptional workforce development and learning experiences for the transformation of individuals, organizations and communities.

APSWI, or Adult Protective Services Workforce Innovations, is a program of the Academy that provides innovative workforce development to APS professionals and their partners.

San Diego State University

The Academy for Professional Excellence is a project of SDSU School of Social Work. Funding is administered by SDSU Research Foundation.

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Purpose of Land Acknowledgement

The purpose of a land acknowledgement is to recognize the relationship of Indigenous peoples to the land. It is multi-faceted in it’s meaning. It shows respect to the people of the land, to the land itself and to their relationship to one another. They are statements that recognize the dispossession from the land, the harm brought by colonial practices, beliefs and policies. They validate and recognize the continued presence of Indigenous peoples everywhere. Lastly, when offered in earnest and with sincerity, they are the first steps in reconciliation and healing.

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Land Acknowledgement

National Deliveries

For millennia, hundreds of Tribal nations have been a part of this land. This land has nourished, healed, protected, and embraced them for many generations in a relationship of balance and harmony.

As members of the Academy community, we acknowledge this legacy. We promote this balance and harmony. We find inspiration from this land and its original inhabitants of this Nation.

�Making a statement isn’t enough. It is important that we share ways people can take action to support Native American people and land back efforts. This can involve researching and learning more about the indigenous communities of the lands you are on at Native Land Digital; returning artifacts and land to their appropriate tribal communities; working to protect and preserve the land, and much more.

For more information and resources, see our Land Acknowledgement page.

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Housekeeping & Introductions

Set cell phones to silent/vibrate

Schedule - Please return promptly from breaks and help

us keep to the schedule

Comfort breaks

Materials

PowerPoint Slides
Participant Materials
Handouts

Introductions

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Learning Objectives

Identify the differences between the various sources of workplace stress including how they are caused and how they might present, both within yourself and in your staff.
Describe the sources of burnout on an organizational level.
Identify ways that middle management can support themselves and their staff in the prevention of burnout.
Identify strategies for middle management to help themselves and their staff to prioritize healthy boundaries and self-care.

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Tour of Workplace Stress

Workplace Stress

Burnout

Secondary Traumatic Stress

Empathic Distress

Moral Distress

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Burnout

A syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

A mismatch in the values of the worker and the manifested values of the workplace.
The result of the work conditions and requirements being “out of sync” with the needs of the employees. (Maslach & Leiter, 2022)

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Burnout - Warning Signs

How does it present?

It is characterized by three dimensions:

feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job
reduced professional efficacy

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Secondary Traumatic Stress

Stress caused by exposure to another’s primary trauma– through images, descriptions or observed reactions.

It presents in a continuum of severity:

Normal Stress Reactions

STS Symptoms

Functional Impairment

PTSD

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Secondary Traumatic Stress -Warning Signs

How does it present?

changes in mood, memory, or perception
disrupted sense of safety
alterations in sense of self-efficacy
depleted personal resources

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Subtle Warning Signs

diminished ability to think critically (confirmation bias)
sense of persecution
minimizing the pain of another
grandiosity
difficulty embracing complexity
difficulty with creative problem solving

(Lipsky & Burk, 2009)

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Empathic Distress �(Compassion Fatigue)

The subtle erosion of one’s ability to care and invest in the work of alleviating the suffering of another.

getting “stuck” in empathy
lack of resources or knowledge to alleviate the suffering of another
personal challenges
chronic stress

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Compassion vs Empathy

Compassion:

feel drawn to them
caring and stable
empathic listening
appropriate responses
know the right response
instill confidence and understanding
we feel better

Empathy:

suffer too
our pain is theirs
feel like a burden
become dysregulated
feel worse with them
altruistic but absorbed
become consumed in their own pain
isolate or become overinvolved

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Empathic Distress - Warning Signs

How does it present?

apathy towards your work or people at work
avoidance of certain clients/patients/people
exhaustion
physical illness

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Moral Distress

An emotional reaction to the experience of organizational policies, mandates, or regulations being in direct conflict with one’s own sense of moral responsibility.

How does it present?

An internal reaction that alerts you to the dissonance between your values and the constraints from your organization.

a pit in your stomach
hesitancy to perform required job responsibilities
a sense that “this is not right”
anger
lack of self-efficacy

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At a Glance

Type of Workplace Stress	Cause	Presentation
Burnout	Chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed	Exhaustion Negativism/cynicism Lack of self-efficacy
Secondary Traumatic Stress	Exposure to another person’s primary trauma	Trauma symptoms Lack of sense of safety Lack of self- efficacy Depleted personal resources
Empathetic Distress	Slow erosion of ability to care from exhaustion, lack of resources or personal challenges	Exhaustion Apathy/negativism Depleted personal resources
Moral Distress	Workplace policies, mandates, expectations in violation of personal values	Internal sense that something is “not right” Anger Lack of self-efficacy

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10-Minute Break (1)

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Middle Management

HIGH RISK FOR BURNOUT:

SENIOR LEADERS

DIRECT REPORTS

POWERFUL TOOL AGAINST BURNOUT:

tuned in
executors of policy
watchtower
community
trainers

88%

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A Deeper Look at Burnout

How does this show up in your staff?

Think about:

Behavior

Emotions

Body language

Words

Attitude

Motivation

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Let’s Sort!

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Worker Profiles

	EXHAUSTION	MENTAL DISTANCE	LOW SELF-EFFICACY
FULL BURNOUT
OVEREXTENDED
DISENGAGED
INEFFECTIVE
ENGAGED

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Workplace Mismatches

WORKLOAD

CONTROL

REWARDS

COMMUNITY

FAIRNESS

VALUES

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Workload

CONSIDER:

more work task than time and/or resources to complete them
frequently stays late to complete work tasks
overloaded with work tasks that are “busy work”
can include long commute time

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Demand/Control Model

Control/Demands	Low Demands	High Demands
High Control	Low strain	Active *higher learning motivation
Low Control	Passive	High strain *high risk of illness and mental/emotional strain

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Control

GROUP DISCUSSION: “RED TAPE” AUTONOMY

How have you found success in providing autonomy to your staff amidst the “red tape”?

Examples include:

distributing time
individual writing style
formatting team meetings
personal organization style
weekly schedule
community partners
feedback and solution making

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Rewards

CONSIDER INTRINSIC REWARDS FIRST:

work feels meaningful
clients are protected
connected to helpful resources
social rewards- connection, positive feedback, recognition, support

EXTRINSIC REWARDS MATTER TOO:

pay
benefits
promotions

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Community

POISON:

lack of psychological safety
colleagues are a threat
isolation
rigidity masked as gatekeeping
competition & comparing

POTION:

group safety
collaboration
shared goal
championing

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Fairness

EXAMPLES INCLUDE:

promotional opportunities
division of work tasks
pay and compensation
”extra” help
hiring practices

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Values

CONSIDER THIS:

Most of an employee’s complaints about the workplace can be connected back to a conflict with their internal values.

Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead list of values: https://brenebrown.com/resources/dare-to-lead-list-of-values/

The extent to which a workplace conflicts with an employee’s values correlates to their risk of burnout.

Group activity:

You know your employees well. You know their work processes and what matters to them. Write down the names of your direct staff, then next to their name write down what you think might be their most important workplace value connected to their role as an investigator. Now think about their top value connected to their role as a member of a team. Let these two values be the lenses of the glasses you wear when you work with them. You won’t get a very long time to do this, so if you can’t think of something right away, or you aren’t sure, leave it blank and then take the next week or so to start paying attention to this and find out what their top values might be.

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Mismatches Activity

WORKLOAD

CONTROL

REWARDS

COMMUNITY

FAIRNESS

VALUES

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The Four C’s

CONNECTION

one-on-one
support
trust
best interest

COMMUNICATION

kind
safe
transparent
predictable

COMMUNITY

supportive
share ideas
decompress
receive praise
celebration

CONTROL

autonomy
invite them into the process

Connection: Establish a meaningful individual connection with each of your staff. They know they can come to you for support. They trust you have their best interests in mind.

Communication: Establish a pattern of communication that is kind, safe, transparent and predictable. Your staff want to know that you will be honest without oversharing, you will keep a confidence, and have an open door. They want to know that each time they talk to you, they know what they will get from you, no matter what they have to share- whether its good or bad.

Community: Establish a team where people can come to get support, share ideas, decompress from the stress of their job, get praised for a job well done, and celebrate the victories

Control: Establish patterns of leadership that allow your team to have as much autonomy as is allowed. Invite them into the process of creating individual connection, improving communication, and building community

Maybe do a few case examples here?

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Individual Responsibility

manage symptoms of burnout by prioritizing personal health practices and implementing boundaries

offer feedback and support changes in the workplace

focus on the elements of their jobs that they can directly control or influence

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10-Minute Break (2)

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Building Resilience in Yourself and Your Staff

Self-Awareness

Intentional Engagement

Skillful Intervention

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Self-Awareness

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.”

-C.G. Jung

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Warning Signs

Red (top):

Stress level severe
Take time off, get professional support

Yellow (middle):

Stress level moderate
Slow down, take stock

Green (bottom):

Stress level mild
Stay the course

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Intentional Engagement

Hyperarousal

The result of chronic trauma taking over the body’s adaptive threat and alarm systems to become excessively alert.

The impact of hyperarousal is:

impaired decision making
difficulty with emotional regulation
interferes with memory

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How We Think the Workday Looks…

Time in the workday

Stress Level

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How the Workday Actually Looks…

Time in the workday

Stress Level

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Edges of Stress Events

BEGINNING

PREPARE

MIDDLE

MAINTAIN

END

RECOVER

INTENTIONAL ENGAGEMENT

SKILLFUL INTERVENTIONS

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Beginning of the Stress Event

Avoidance: keeping another’s distress at an emotional “arms’ length”

Overinvolvement: becoming overly empathically connected with the distress

Images were generated using AI

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Another Approach

BE A WINDOW:

Use empathic connection to respond to the suffering and needs of another while staying grounded within oneself.

Images were generated using AI

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Middle of the Stress Event: Close the Window

CLOSING THE WINDOW

unmirroring
slowing empathic imagery

Images were generated using AI

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Middle of the Stress Event: Open the Window

OPENING THE WINDOW

make observations
interconnectedness

Images were generated using AI

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The Recovery

body
emotions
thoughts

How am I?

stop
slow down breathing
focus on feet on the floor

Feet on the floor:

water
brisk walk
debrief

Hot, Walk, Talk

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Low Impact Debriefing

HOW DEEP DO YOU NEED TO DIG?

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Green Cross Ethical Guidelines

Strategies for letting go of work in off hours: “embracing rejuvenation activities that are fun, stimulating, inspiring and generate joy in life”

Strategies for acquiring adequate rest and relaxation: “tailored to your own interest and abilities which result in rest and relaxation most of the time”

Strategies for practicing daily stress reduction methods: “tailored to your own interest and abilities in effectively managing your stress during working hours and off-hours”

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Balance Map

Body

Mind

Soul

Getting enough sleep	Limiting coffee	Nutritious lunch
Setting boundaries when I’m overwhelmed	Making daily plans	Taking 5 minutes to organize my desk
Going out to lunch with a friend 1x/month	Regenerative activities after work	Saying thank you to my coworkers

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Review

There are different sources of workplace stress

Burnout happens because of mismatches between the employee and the workplace

Middle management is both vulnerable to experiencing burnout and a powerful tool to reducing burnout within the organization

Increased resilience comes through:

Improved self-awareness
Intentional engagement
Skillful intervention

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P-I-E

Reflect and note:

Priceless piece of information

What has been the most important piece of information to you today?

Item to implement

What is something you intend to implement from our time together today?

Encouragement you received

What is something that you already are doing and were encouraged to keep doing?

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Thank You!

We envision a world where the quality of life for individuals, organizations, and communities is transformed into a healthier place.